How I Applied for UK Tourist Visa Application in Oman

Hiya! United Kingdom particularly London is one of my dream destination, and applying for tourist is visa in any particular country usually gives us chills and anxiety. So, 3 months I spent my time searching information regarding how to apply visa here in Oman for Philippine passport holder, read forums, gathering the necessary documents, eyeing for sale seat going to London, etc. So, imagine the time I spent and sleepless nights (because I’m the type of person who do her homework seriously 😝) Hence, I created this page to ease or somewhat help aspiring travelers in applying for visa so that they can also make their dream come true. In addition, few of my friends asked me the procedures of it. Okay… Let’s start!

DOCUMENTS I PREPARED.

- PASSPORT

- CIVIL ID (PHOTOCOPY)

- CERTIFICATE OF EMPLOYMENT (PROOF THAT YOU WILL RETURN)

- SALARY CERTIFICATE (PROOF OF INCOME)

- BANK STATEMENT FOR 6 MONTHS (PROOF OF INCOME AND FUNDS FOR YOUR TRIP. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SUFFICIENT FUND IN YOUR ACCOUNT)

- 1PC. PASSPORT SIZE PHOTO WITH WHITE BACKGROUND

* All original copies unless stated.

**Basic requirements, right?. 😗 Well, this is what I prepared for my tourist visa application. I am under MOH. Detailed information was put on your profile online.
***After securing all this credentials, print out the online registration information pages after completion of it and you are good to go to your booked appointment for submission.

NEXT STEP AFTER SECURING DOCUMENTS:

Visit website of VFS Global and read for more information there. They are private company collecting visa applications in Oman. You will then need to create your profile or account here. I got my approved visa from Abu Dhabi, UAE so they were the one who sent my passport and application for it to be processed there.
 
Make sure you input correctly and honestly all the required information, more detail instructions were clearly stated there, so watch out! Payment also included in that steps. They charged me $131 for processing fee. I used my visa card for payment. Online payments are widely used now. 🤓 Before the end of stage of your profile creation, you need to book date for appointment, it is important because you will not be allowed to enter in their office if you don’t have appointment and you will not able to print out those pages you answered if you will not finish it. After that, Print Print Print! 😚

Go to VFS Global office at: to submit your documents.

VFS Muscat Visa Application Centre
Level F1 – First Floor
The Nawras Campus Al Tilal Complex
Muscat Grand Mall
Muscat

Please wear semi-casual or smart casual attire.



TIPS IN COMPLETING YOUR ONLINE PROFILE:

- Do the math! Be realistic on how much you plan to spend in your UK trip. It’s based on your budget for your trip. If you have limited budget, do the math twice. LOL from the airplane ticket price, transportation, tour packages, food, accommodation. Here is a link where you can have some idea how expensive is to live in UK. The financial question part of your profile is the crucial since we already know that UK is expensive country, hence you need to prove that you can support your self during your vacation.

- I declared that I will go as a tourist without any sponsors. But I did live with my friend in London (thanks Nona and Chester! 😁). But if you have distant relatives living in UK it’s alright to write them down in your profile provided they can issue you letter or proof from them, that they can support you during your stay with them, specially their financial status.  So, don’t forget your relatives overseas because you never know when they can help you. 😉

- Visit real time how much will it cost you to book a flight and accommodation. I used Skyscanner and Booking for great deals so you will have an idea how much will it cost you to arrive in London and your stay in UK. It cost me €638.41 for my round-trip airfare to London Heathrow from Muscat, Oman via Qatar Airways.



HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO RECEIVE THE RESULT?

 
In January 30, 2016 I finished filling out the necessary information online and I booked appointment for submission of documents in February 14, 2016 (see i booked on Valentine’s day! My lucky day!) After 2 days upon submission of papers, I received an email informing me that my application was being prepared for assessment by an Entry Clearance Officer, it was stated in email that it will take 15 days as their processing time. But luckily, I received an email again in February 18 that my UK visa application has been concluded. (OMG! The dreadful answer from immigration officer 😜)

VFS Global will contact you when you can claim your passport via email or call, so just wait for that first before going again to their office. VFS Global will not also disclose any information including the decision of your application or provide any explanation in case of visa refusal. They also not entitled to answer any inquiries regarding the process of visa application. They required you to just visit the UKVI website for any inquiry.

Make sure to apply your visa with enough time, not too late nor too early. Not too late because you don’t know if there will be some delays in giving decision such as bulk applicants, holidays (take note of this), or lost documents (we don’t know when jinx will come like what happened to me which they gave me a wrong middle name. 😣 which another money spent for that although they did changed it for free but the time and money I spent going to Muscat was really frustrating). And not too early because the visa they will give you might lapse the intended date of travel especially those who have a scheduled vacation leave like me 😁.

Once, VFS Global emailed you that you can pick-up your passport, double check if they spelled your name correctly. Ask them kindly to change it once you noticed some discrepancies because you don’t want to risk and get a problem if you already in airport immigration. They also offer delivery of passports for additional fee. I chose for pick-up.

UK Tourist Visa Multiple Entry for 6 months.

Tadaaa! My hard earned visa. 😁 Thank God! I got a multiple entry for 6 months. Too bad I won’t able to come back again in UK during my visa duration. Oh well.. UK is also my dream country to work into. Inshallah.



UK trip post coming up! 😘